We present a scheme for secure deterministic quantum communication without using entanglement, in a Plug-and-Play fashion. The protocol is completely deterministic, both in the encoding procedure and in the control one, thus doubling the communication rate with respect to other setups; moreover, deterministic nature of transmission, apart from rendering unnecessary bases revelation on the public channel, allows the realization of protocols like `direct communication' and `quantum dialogue'. The encoding exploits the phase degree of freedom of a photon, thus paving the way to an optical fiber implementation, feasible with present day technology.
We present a fibre-optical quantum key distribution system. It works at 1550nm and is based on the plug & play setup. We tested the stability under field conditions using aerial and terrestrial cables and performed a key exchange over 67 km between Geneva and Lausanne.
We report a quantum key distribution using subcarrier wave encoding in Plug&Play configuration. Our detailed study shows how subcarrier encoding operates in a presence of Rayleigh back-scattering, chromatic dispersion and other experimental negative factors that occur in Plug&Play configuration. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel regime for the subcarrier wave encoding, where simultaneous detection of two logical states in a single basis is combined with robustness and simplicity of the original protocol. This deep modulation regime shows reliable quantum communication with loss…
The SARG04 protocol is one of the most frequently used protocol in commercial plug-and-play quantum key distribution (QKD) system, where an eavesdropper can completely control or change the photon number statistics of the QKD source. To ensure the security of SARG04 protocol in plug-and-play QKD system with an unknown and untrusted source, the bounds of a few statistical parameters of the source need to be monitored. An active or a passive source monitor schemes are proposed to verify these parameters. Furthermore, the practical issues due to statistical fluctuation and detection noise in the …
An improved "plug & play" interferometric system for quantum key distribution is presented. Self-alignment and compensation of birefringence remain, while limitations due to reflections are overcome. Original electronics implementing the BB84 protocol makes adjustment simple. Key creation with 0.1 photon per pulse at a rate of 325 Hz with a 2.9 percent QBER - corresponding to a net rate of 210Hz - over a 23 Km installed cable was performed.
This work marks an important progress towards practical quantum optical technologies in the continuous variable regime, as it shows the feasibility of experiments where non-Gaussian state generation entirely relies on plug-&-play components from guided-wave optics technologies. This strategy is demonstrated experimentally with the heralded preparation of low amplitude Schrödinger cat states based on single-photon subtraction from a squeezed vacuum. All stages of the experiment are based on off-the-shelf fiber components. This leads to a stable, compact, and easily re-configurable realization, …
We present a time-multiplexed interferometer based on Faraday mirrors, and apply it to quantum key distribution. The interfering pulses follow exactly the same spatial path, ensuring very high stability and self balancing. Use of Faraday mirrors compensates automatically any birefringence effects and polarization dependent losses in the transmitting fiber. First experimental results show a fringe visibility of 0.9984 for a 23km-long interferometer, based on installed telecom fibers.
The security of a passive plug-and-play QKD arrangement in the case of finite (resources) key lengths is analysed. It is assumed that the eavesdropper has full access to the channel so an unknown and untrusted source is assumed. To take into account the security of the BB84 protocol under collective attacks within the framework of quantum adversaries, a full treatment provides the well-known equations for the secure key rate. A numerical simulation keeping a minimum number of initial parameters constant as the total error sought and the number of pulses is carried out. The remaining parameters…
We suggest an improved plug-and-play measurement-device-independent (MDI) continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) via the dual-phase modulation (DPM), aiming to solve an implementation problem with no extra performance penalty. The synchronous loophole of different lasers from Alice and Bob can be elegantly eliminated in the plug-and-play configuration, which gives birth to the convenient implementation when comparing to the Gaussian-modulated coherent-state protocol. While the local oscillator (LO) can be locally generated by the trusted part Charlie, the LO-aimed attacks can be …
We experimentally demonstrate a hybrid configuration for Quantum Key Distribution, that combines the simplicity of Distributed Phase Reference protocols with the self-referencing features and polarization insensitivity of the so-called Plug & Play system. Additionally, all the components are arranged in a server-client scheme to allow for practical key distribution. Blank, coherent pulse pair trains are generated at the reception end of the link by means of a pulse sequence and an unbalanced interferometer, and sent to the other end. The emitter writes the qubits by erasing one of the pulses f…
A passive scheme with a beam splitter and a photon-number-resolving (PNR) detector is proposed to verify the photon statistics of an untrusted source in a plug-and-play quantum-key-distribution system by applying a three-intensity decoy-state protocol. The practical issues due to statistical fluctuation and detection noise are analyzed. The simulation results show that the scheme can work efficiently when the total number of optical pulses sent from Alice to Bob is above 10^8, and the dark count rate of the PNR detector is below 0.5 counts/pulse, which is realizable with current techniques. Fu…
Quantum key distribution (QKD) gaurantees unconditional communication security based on the laws of quantum physics. However, practical QKD suffers from a number of quantum hackings due to the device imperfections. From the security standpoint, measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) is in the limelight since it eliminates all the possible loopholes in detection. Due to active control units for mode matching between the photons from remote parties, however, the implementation of MDI-QKD is highly impractical. In this article, we propose a novel method in which the ind…
Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) is immune to all security loopholes on detection. Previous experiments on MDI-QKD required spatially separated signal lasers and complicated stabilization systems. In this paper, we perform a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration of plug-and-play MDI-QKD over an asymmetric channel setting with a single signal laser, in which the whole system is automatically stabilized in spectrum, polarization, arrival time and phase reference. Both the signal laser and the single-photon detectors are in the possession of a common serve…
A deterministic source of coherent single photons is an enabling device of quantum-information processing for quantum simulators, and ultimately a full-fledged quantum internet. Quantum dots (QDs) in nanophotonic structures have been employed as excellent sources of single photons, and planar waveguides are well suited for scaling up to multiple photons and emitters exploring near-unity photon-emitter coupling and advanced active on-chip functionalities. An ideal single-photon source requires suppressing noise and decoherence, which notably has been demonstrated in electrically-contacted heter…
We propose and experimentally demonstrate a plug-and-play, practical, and enabling method allowing to synchronize the building blocks of a quantum network in an all-optical way. Our scheme relies on mature and reliable classical telecommunication and non-linear optical technologies and can be implemented in a universal way with off-the-shelf components. Compared to already reported solutions, it allows achieving high-quality synchronization compatible with high network-operation rate and is free from opto-electronic jitters affecting servo-loop based configurations. We test our scheme with a g…
Performing complex cryptographic tasks will be an essential element in future quantum communication networks. These tasks are based on a handful of fundamental primitives, such as coin flipping, where two distrustful parties wish to agree on a randomly generated bit. Although it is known that quantum versions of these primitives can offer information-theoretic security advantages with respect to classical protocols, a demonstration of such an advantage in a practical communication scenario has remained elusive. Here, we experimentally implement a quantum coin flipping protocol that performs st…
A security evaluation against the finite-key-size effect was performed for a commercial plug-and-play quantum key distribution (QKD) system. We demonstrate the ability of an eavesdropper to force the system to distill key from a smaller length of sifted-key. We also derive a key-rate equation that is specific for this system. This equation provides bounds above the upper bound of secure key under finite-key-size analysis. From this equation and our experimental data, we show that the keys that have been distilled from the smaller sifted-key size fall above our bound. Thus, their security is no…
Reliable generation of single photons is of key importance for fundamental physical experiments and to demonstrate quantum technologies. Waveguide-based photon pair sources have shown great promise in this regard due to their large degree of spectral tunability, high generation rates and long photon coherence times. However, for such a source to have real world applications it needs to be efficiently integrated with fiber-optic networks. We answer this challenge by presenting an alignment-free source of photon pairs in the telecommunications band that maintains heralding efficiency > 50 % even…
Robust, simple, and flexible quantum key distribution (QKD) is vital for realising practical applications of this technique. Contrary to typical phase-coded QKD schemes, the plug-and-play QKD design requires only one arm-length-insensitive interferometer without active feedback, in which the noise is automatically compensated by the two-way structure. However, there are certain possible loopholes in the typical plug-and-play designs, which require consideration and strict monitoring. This study proposes a loophole-free plug-and-play QKD scheme with two-way protocol and presents an experimental…
Incorporating solid-state quantum emitters into optical fiber networks enables the long-distance transmission of quantum information and the remote connection of distributed quantum nodes. However, interfacing quantum emitters with fiber optics encounters several challenges, including low coupling efficiency and stability. Here, we demonstrate a highly efficient fiber-interfacing photonic device that directly launches single photons from quantum dots into a standard FC/PC-connectorized single-mode fiber (SMF28). Optimally designed photonic structures based on hole gratings produce an ultra-nar…
We present a compact, fibre-coupled single photon source using gradient-index (GRIN) lenses and an InAsP semiconductor quantum dot embedded within an InP photonic nanowire waveguide. A GRIN lens assembly is used to collect photons close to the tip of the nanowire, coupling the light immediately into a single mode optical fibre. The system provides a stable, high brightness source of fibre-coupled single photons. Using pulsed excitation, we demonstrate on-demand operation with a single photon purity of 98.5% when exciting at saturation in a device with a source-fibre collection efficiency of 35…
